Hey everyone this was a pretty big week and a lot of great things went down!!
The biggest highlight of this week was our lesson with Loredana. We focused on baptism and 2 Nephi 31 and how baptism is an important step on our path towards Christ. It went really well and the Spirit was very strong. We had planned to set a baptismal date with her this week and while we weren't able to establish a date, we committed her to pray, read, and come to church, all so she can receive and answer about whether or not she should be baptized. And she has done all three things and has come to church for her 3rd week in a row, something that hasn't been done in quite a while. I know she is feeling the Spirit and Elder Kemeny does too. This week we will go back to baptism and if she truly has been reading and praying, I know she will be ready. But if it is not God's will for this to happen this week, we will continue to work hard until the time is right.
We had a pretty good Sunday as well. We didn't have a whole lot of people at church but we had a really good, spiritual meeting. Elder Kemeny was a rockstar and prepared a talk 30 minutes before church started because the member giving the talk wasn't able to come. Elder Kemeny stepped up to the plate and delivered, making me a proud Branch President haha. After church, we visited some sick members and in turn we were given a pleasant surprise while walking home. A man stops us because we looked so elegant and such. He asked us about our badges and we told him we were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was pretty interested about what we were doing here and was asking good questions about things. Eventually another man starts listening in and we have this interesting conversation with 2 men who had never heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But once we brought out the Book of Mormon, it instantly became them asking about our many wives and such. They knew about the "Mormons" but not of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And soon after that, the conversation turned south and they wouldn't listen at all. Yet we testified of Jesus Christ and we stood and took the blows of hate and scorn. What I learned from this is what great power the name of this church brings. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and this experience just is a witness of the importance of this name. The Spirit was so strong when we were missionaries of this church but once it was the Mormon church, they weren't willing to understand our message. For me, this is why President Nelson felt impressed to clarify the name of our church. I walked away from that feeling victorious and proud of what I believe to be right. One of the men said I was wasting my time and my youth. Well, for all you people out there, I am happy. And I would not want to spend my life any other way right now.
So I have been out here for A YEAR and let me tell you, it's been really hard and really stressful and a pain in the feet sometimes. But I keep on going, keep on smiling, keep on loving life because I am happy and blessed. I am where I need to be and everyday I think of how blessed I am to serve in Romania, to be around these people, to learn a new language, to go from 10 to 9 each day working harder than I have ever worked. I have time to work out the kinks with everything, but I am going to take this moment and praise my Savior and Redeemer for this wonderful opportunity. I have nothing much to say than I'm happy.
I love you all and I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Keep being amazing, keep setting examples, and keep loving who you are and those around you. Remember who you are. Remember Jesus Christ and what he did for all of us. Remember.
VA IUBESC,
Elder Bowen
The biggest highlight of this week was our lesson with Loredana. We focused on baptism and 2 Nephi 31 and how baptism is an important step on our path towards Christ. It went really well and the Spirit was very strong. We had planned to set a baptismal date with her this week and while we weren't able to establish a date, we committed her to pray, read, and come to church, all so she can receive and answer about whether or not she should be baptized. And she has done all three things and has come to church for her 3rd week in a row, something that hasn't been done in quite a while. I know she is feeling the Spirit and Elder Kemeny does too. This week we will go back to baptism and if she truly has been reading and praying, I know she will be ready. But if it is not God's will for this to happen this week, we will continue to work hard until the time is right.
We had a pretty good Sunday as well. We didn't have a whole lot of people at church but we had a really good, spiritual meeting. Elder Kemeny was a rockstar and prepared a talk 30 minutes before church started because the member giving the talk wasn't able to come. Elder Kemeny stepped up to the plate and delivered, making me a proud Branch President haha. After church, we visited some sick members and in turn we were given a pleasant surprise while walking home. A man stops us because we looked so elegant and such. He asked us about our badges and we told him we were missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He was pretty interested about what we were doing here and was asking good questions about things. Eventually another man starts listening in and we have this interesting conversation with 2 men who had never heard of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. But once we brought out the Book of Mormon, it instantly became them asking about our many wives and such. They knew about the "Mormons" but not of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. And soon after that, the conversation turned south and they wouldn't listen at all. Yet we testified of Jesus Christ and we stood and took the blows of hate and scorn. What I learned from this is what great power the name of this church brings. We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and this experience just is a witness of the importance of this name. The Spirit was so strong when we were missionaries of this church but once it was the Mormon church, they weren't willing to understand our message. For me, this is why President Nelson felt impressed to clarify the name of our church. I walked away from that feeling victorious and proud of what I believe to be right. One of the men said I was wasting my time and my youth. Well, for all you people out there, I am happy. And I would not want to spend my life any other way right now.
So I have been out here for A YEAR and let me tell you, it's been really hard and really stressful and a pain in the feet sometimes. But I keep on going, keep on smiling, keep on loving life because I am happy and blessed. I am where I need to be and everyday I think of how blessed I am to serve in Romania, to be around these people, to learn a new language, to go from 10 to 9 each day working harder than I have ever worked. I have time to work out the kinks with everything, but I am going to take this moment and praise my Savior and Redeemer for this wonderful opportunity. I have nothing much to say than I'm happy.
I love you all and I hope that you all have a wonderful week! Keep being amazing, keep setting examples, and keep loving who you are and those around you. Remember who you are. Remember Jesus Christ and what he did for all of us. Remember.
VA IUBESC,
Elder Bowen
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